As a child, Splazer Angmo often gazed at the dome structure perched atop a hill in her village and wondered what it was. Her parents, part-time herders, were equally puzzled. The scientists who work in the village use it to look at stars, they told her.

Years later, sitting in a school classroom, she finally learned its name: telescope .

Now, she has her own telescope – a maroon, mobile instrument she sets up every evening as the village of Hanle transitions from golden dusk to a star-filled night. She is one of 25 villagers – two-thirds women – trained as “astro-ambassadors,” guiding tourists through the cosmos.

Why We Wrote This

In one of the darkest corners of the world, a group of “astro-ambassadors” are making a living off the night sky – and creating a bridge between science an

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